It was completed in 1933, and was renamed in honor of United States Representative and District Court judge L. Richardson Preyer in 1988.

The George H. Rommel Construction Company of Louisville, Kentucky, acted as General Contractor.

After the postal service moved out completely in the late 1980s, the entire first floor work space was converted to courts and related offices.

It was said that the armies of General Green and Lord Cornwallis fought around this house during the Revolutionary War.

The site is at the edge of the downtown commercial are and directly across the street from the Guilford County Government complex.

Resting on a Mount Airy granite base, the walls above are clad in Indiana limestone.

Granite steps and Crab Orchard stone terraces lead to the three-bay entry.

The fourth-floor level of the entry pavilion consists of a three-bay set-back delineated at the east and west sides by projected triangular pilasters.

The replacement double aluminum doors have a polished granite surround with paterae on the panels and an elaborate pediment.

The pediment features a lotus flanked by heavy floral carving with palmetta acroterions.

Three bays above the entry door feature open limestone, geometric grilles delineated by pilasters with carved lotus-motif panels at the third and fourth-floor levels.

The south lobby lost much of its character when the postal service moved out and all the boxes and windows were filled in.